Interconnect structure

ABSTRACT

An interconnect structure is described, disposed on a substrate with a conductive part thereon and including a dielectric layer, a composite plug and a conductive line. The dielectric layer is disposed on the substrate covering the conductive part. The composite plug is disposed in the dielectric layer electrically connecting with the conductive part, and includes a first plug and a second plug on the first plug, wherein the material or the critical dimension of the second plug is different from that of the first plug. The conductive line is disposed on the dielectric layer electrically connecting with the composite plug.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an integrated circuit structure andfabrication thereof. More particularly, the present invention relates toan interconnect structure, and to a method for fabricating the same.

2. Description of the Related Art

With the rapid development in the IC industry, the integration degree ofsemiconductor devices is always required higher so that the IC processlinewidth is decreased unceasingly. Hence, the process window of aback-end interconnect process is decreased rapidly, especially when avia/contact hole is to be formed. This is due to the high aspect ratioof the via/contact hole, and results in quite a few problems.

FIG. 1 illustrates a cross-sectional view of a conventional contact plugof MOS transistor. The contact plug 150 is disposed between two MOStransistors 110 and 120 electrically connecting with a sharedsource/drain (S/D) region 130, wherein the MOS transistors 110 and 120are covered by a dielectric layer 140 in which the contact plug 150 isformed. When the process linewidth is reduced, the contact hole 145 isshrunk but the dielectric layer 140 cannot be thinned correspondingly,so that the aspect ratio of the contact hole 145 is raised.Consequently, some dielectric material easily remains at the bottom ofthe contact hole 145 to cause a high contact resistance or even an opencircuit and a void defect easily forms in the subsequent conductorgap-filling process, so that the reliability of the device and the yieldof the product are lowered.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, this invention provides an interconnect structure capableof solving the high aspect ratio issues to improve the devicereliability and the product yield.

This invention also provides a method for fabricating an interconnectstructure of this invention.

The interconnect structure of this invention is disposed on a substratewith a conductive part thereon, including a dielectric layer, acomposite plug and a conductive line. The dielectric layer is disposedon the substrate covering the conductive part. The composite plug isdisposed in the dielectric layer, electrically connecting with theconductive part and including a first plug and a second plug on thefirst plug, wherein the first plug and the second plug are different inthe material or critical dimension. The conductive line is disposed onthe dielectric layer, and electrically connects with the composite plug.

In the above interconnect structure, the aspect ratio of the first plugis preferably no more than 3. The first or second plug may include amaterial selected from the group consisting of Cu, W, Al, Mo, Au, Pt andalloys thereof.

The dielectric layer may include a lower sub-layer and an uppersub-layer, wherein the first plug is disposed in the lower sub-layer andthe second plug in the upper sub-layer, and the upper sub-layer mayinclude a low-k dielectric material. The interconnect structure mayfurther include a protective layer between the lower and uppersub-layers of the dielectric layer, wherein the protective layer mayinclude silicon nitride, silicon carbide (SiC), silicon oxynitride(SiON) or silicon carbonitride (SiCN).

The above interconnect structure may further includes a barrier layerbetween the composite plug and each of the dielectric layer and theconductive part, wherein the barrier layer may include a materialselected from the group consisting of Ti, TiN, Ta, TaN, W, WN and Ti—Walloy. In addition, the conductive part may be a doped region, a gate, acombination of a doped region and a gate, or a conductive line.

The method for forming an interconnect structure of this invention isdescribed as follows. A substrate with a conductive part thereon isprovided, and then a lower dielectric layer is formed over the substratecovering the conductive part. A first plug is formed in the lowerdielectric layer to electrically connect with the conductive part, andthen an upper dielectric layer is formed on the lower dielectric layerand the first plug. A second plug and a conductive line are formed inthe upper dielectric layer, wherein the second plug is formed betweenthe first plug and the conductive line and electrically connects thefirst plug and the conductive line.

In the above method, the aspect ratio of the first plug is preferably nomore than 3. The first plug may include a material selected from thegroup consisting of Cu, W, Al, Mo, Au, Pt and alloys thereof.

Moreover, the upper dielectric layer may include, from bottom to top, afirst dielectric sub-layer, an etching stop layer and a seconddielectric sub-layer, wherein the first and the second dielectricsub-layers may include a low-k material, and the etching stop layer mayinclude silicon nitride (SiN), SiC, SiON or SiCN.

In addition, the second plug and the conductive line may be formed withthe following steps. A dual damascene opening that includes a via holeexposing at least a part of the first plug and a trench above the viahole is formed in the upper dielectric layer. A conductive layer isformed filling up the dual damascene opening, and then the conductivelayer outside the dual damascene opening is removed, possibly through aCMP process. A hard mask layer for defining the dual damascene openingmay be further formed on the upper dielectric layer after the upperdielectric layer is formed.

Since the composite plug of this invention is formed in two stages andthe aspect ratio of the partial contact/via hole in each stage is muchlowered, the process windows of hole-etching and gap-filling areimproved preventing a broken circuit. Hence, the invention can be usedto improve the device reliability and the product yield.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description andthe following detailed description are exemplary, and are intended toprovide further explanation of the invention as claimed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a conventional contact plug of MOS transistor.

FIG. 2 illustrates an interconnect structure according to an embodimentof this invention.

FIG. 3A to FIG. 3E illustrate, in a cross-sectional view, aninterconnect process according to a preferred embodiment of thisinvention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring to FIG. 2, the interconnect structure of the embodiment isdisposed on a substrate 200 having an isolation structure 201 andmultiple semiconductor devices 210 thereon. Each device 210 may be a MOStransistor including gate dielectric 211 on the substrate 200, a gate213 on the gate dielectric 211, and S/D regions 215 in the substrate 200beside the gate 213, wherein the gate dielectric 211 may include SiO,the gate 213 includes a conductive material like doped polysilicon ormetal, and the S/D regions 215 are p⁺-doped or n⁺-doped. A metalsilicide layer 217 including TiSi, CoSi, NiSi or PtSi may be furtherdisposed on the gate 213, and the sidewall of the gate 213 may befurther disposed with a spacer 219 possibly composed of SiN. An etchingstop layer 220, such as a SiN layer, may be further disposed on thedevices 210.

The aforementioned structure is covered by a dielectric layer 221, inwhich a composite plug 230 is disposed electrically connecting with aconductive part of the devices 210. In this case, the conductive partmay be an S/D region 215 or a gate 213, or a combination thereof.Accordingly, the composite plug 230 may be a contact plug merelyconnected to an S/D region 215 or a gate 213, or a share contact plugelectrically connecting with an S/D region 215 and a gate 213 as shownin FIG. 2.

The dielectric layer 221 may include lower and upper dielectricsub-layers 222 and 225, and simultaneously the composite plug 230 mayinclude lower and upper parts being a first plug 231 and a second plug235 respectively in the lower sub-layer 222 and the upper sub-layer 225.The first plug 231 and the second plug 235 are different in the materialor critical dimension (CD). In some embodiments, the CD of the secondplug 235 is smaller than that of the first plug 231.

In addition, the material of the first/second plug 231/235 may beselected from aluminum (Al), copper (Cu), tungsten (W), molybdenum (Mo),gold (Au), platinum (Pt) and alloys thereof. The plug material may be analloy simply containing two or more metals mentioned above like Al—Cualloy, or an alloy of metal and semi-metal like Si-doped Al-alloy,Cu-alloy or Al—Cu alloy. The materials of the first and the second plugs231 and 235 may be the same or different. Besides, a barrier layer 237may be further disposed between the first plug 231 and each of the lowerdielectric sub-layer 222, the S/D region 215 and the spacer 219, andanother barrier layer 239 may be further disposed between the secondplug 235 and each of the upper dielectric sub-layer 225 and the firstplug 231. The material of the barrier layer 237 or 239 may be Ti, TiN,Ta, TaN, W, WN or Ti—W alloy.

The material of the lower dielectric sub-layer 222 may be SiO or BPSG,and that of the upper dielectric sub-layer 225 may be SiO or a low-kmaterial with a dielectric constant less than 4.0 like HSG, FSG, Flare,SILK, carbon-doped oxide (CDO), hydrogenated amorphous carbon (HAC),fluorinated amorphous carbon (FAC), Parylene, poly(arylene ether) (PAE),Cyclotene, SiO₂ aerogel, SiO₂ Xerogel or a combination thereof. Aprotective layer 223, such as a SiN, SiC, SiON or SiCN layer, may befurther disposed between the lower and upper dielectric sub-layers 222and 225.

The upper dielectric sub-layer 225 and the composite plug 230 is coveredby another dielectric layer 240, in which a conductive line 250 isdisposed electrically connecting with the composite plug 230. Thematerial of the dielectric layer 240 may be SiO, BPSG or any low-kmaterial mentioned above, while that of the conductive line 250 may beCu, W, Al, Mo, Au, Pt or an alloy thereof.

It is noted that though the composite plug of this invention isexemplified as a share contact plug connecting with an S/D region and agate in the above embodiment, the composite plug is not restricted to acontact plug but can be a via plug electrically connected to aconductive line in an interconnect structure. Since the composite plugis formed from lower and upper parts and the aspect ratio of the partialcontact/via hole corresponding to each part is much lowered, the processwindows of hole-etching and gap-filling are improved preventing a brokencircuit. Therefore, the device reliability and the product yield can beimproved.

FIG. 3A to FIG. 3E illustrate, in a cross-sectional view, aninterconnect process according to the preferred embodiment of thisinvention. The interconnect process may be applied to an SRAMfabricating process.

Referring to FIG. 3A, a substrate 300 with an isolation structure 301and multiple semiconductor devices 310 thereon is provided. Theisolation structure 301 may be a shallow trench isolation (STI)structure that can be formed with any suitable method in the prior art.The devices 310 may include MOS transistors, each of which includes gatedielectric 311 on the substrate 300, a gate 313 on the gate dielectric311 and two S/D regions 315 in the substrate 300 beside the gate 313.The gate dielectric 311 may include SiO, the gate 313 may include aconductive material like doped poly-Si or metal and the S/D regions 315are p⁺-doped or n⁺-doped. A metal silicide layer 317, possibly includingTiSi, NiSi or CoSi, may be formed on each gate 313 to lower theresistance thereof, and a spacer 319 possibly including SiO or SiN maybe further disposed on the sidewall of each gate 313.

Referring to FIG. 3A again, an etching stop layer 320 is then formedover the substrate 300 covering the devices 310, possibly including SiNand formed with CVD. A lower dielectric layer 321 is then formed on theetching stop layer 320 covering the devices 310, having a planar topsurface slightly higher than that of the devices 310 and possiblyincluding SiO or BPSG. Such a lower dielectric layer 321 can be formedby firstly forming a layer of a dielectric material through CVD and thenplanarizing the layer of the dielectric material.

Thereafter, a hard mask layer 323 is formed on the dielectric layer 321,possibly including SiN, SiC, SiON or SiCN and formed through CVD. Apatterned photoresist layer 325 is then formed on the hard mask layer323, possibly by spin-coating the hard mask layer 323 with a layer of aphotoresist material and then exposing and developing the photoresistmaterial, which is usually an organic photosensitive material.

Referring to FIGS. 3A and 3B, the hard mask layer 323, the lowerdielectric layer 321 and the etching stop layer 320 not covered by thephotoresist layer 325 are etched away to form an opening 327, possiblywith a reactive-ion etching (RIE) process. The plasma-generating gascomposition used in the etching step may be adjusted timely for thedifferent materials of the layers being etched. Because the materials ofthe etching stop layer 320 and the lower dielectric layer 321 aredifferent, the etching is stopped on the etching stop layer 320 notdamaging the gate 313 and the S/D region 315.

Thereafter, the residual photoresist layer 325 is removed, and then theetching stop layer 320 exposed in the opening 327 is removed by, forexample, wet etching, so that the opening 327 exposes the S/D region 315and the metal silicide layer 317 on the gate 313. It is also noted thatnot every device 310 is exposed by an opening, and the openings on somedevices 310 may merely expose their S/D regions 315. The distributionand shapes of the openings depend on the circuit design.

Referring to FIG. 3B again, a barrier layer 331 and a conductive layer333 are formed over the substrate 300 filling up the opening 327, andthen the conductive layer 333, the barrier layer 331 and the hard masklayer 323 on the lower dielectric layer 321 are removed to form a firstplug 335, possibly through CMP. The barrier layer 331 may include Ti,TiN, Ta, TaN, W, WN or Ti—W alloy, etc., and can be formed through PVDor CVD. The conductive layer 333 may be formed through CVD or PVD, andmay include Cu, W, Al, Mo, Au, Pt or an alloy thereof optionally dopedwith silicon.

Since in the above process the top surface of the lower dielectric layer321 is slightly higher than that of the device 310, the aspect ratio ofthe opening 327 is quite low increasing the process window. The aspectratio of the opening 327 is preferably no more than 3.0, and can be 1.5or less in some embodiments.

Referring to FIG. 3C, a protective layer 337, a dielectric layer 339, anetching stop layer 341, another dielectric layer 343, a cap layer 345and a hard mask layer 347 are sequentially formed on the lowerdielectric layer 321 and the first plug 335. The protective layer 337may include SiN, SiC, SiON or SiCN, and may be formed through CVD. Thematerial of the dielectric layer 339 may be SiO, or a low-k materialwith a dielectric constant less than 4 like HSQ, FSG, Flare, SILK, CDO,HAC, KF, FAC, Parylene, PAE, Cyclotene, SiO₂ aerogel, SiO₂ xerogel or acombination thereof. The dielectric layer 339 may be formed through CVDor spin-on coating.

The etching stop layer 341 may include SiN, SiC, SiON or SiCN, and maybe formed through CVD. The dielectric layer 343 may include SiO or alow-k material mentioned above, and may be formed through CVD orspin-coating. The cap layer 345 may include TEOS—SiO, and may be formedthrough CVD. The hard mask layer 347 may include TiN, and may be formedwith CVD.

It is noted that the protective layer 337, the etching stop layer 341,the cap layer 345 and the hard mask layer 347 are formed to facilitatethe control of the subsequent patterning process, so that the photomaskpattern can be transferred more accurately and the films that should notbe etched can be protected. Nevertheless, the formation of these filmsor other types of films like an anti-reflection layer or a wetting layeris optional according to the requirements of the process.

Referring to FIG. 3D, a dual damascene opening 350 is formed in the hardmask layer 347, the cap layer 345, the dielectric layer 343, the etchingstop layer 341, the dielectric layer 339 and the protective layer 337,including a via hole 357 exposing at least a part of the first plug 335and a trench 355 above the via hole 357. The via hole 357 can be formedbefore or after the trench 355 is formed, and the method for etchingthese films may include an RIE process where the plasma-generating gascomposition is adjusted several times for the different materials ofthese films. Because the dual damascene process is well known in theart, it is not further described in details.

Referring to FIG. 3E, a barrier layer 359 and a conductive layer 360 areformed filling up the dual damascene opening 350, and then theconductive layer 360, the barrier layer 359, the hard mask layer 347 andthe cap layer 345 on the dielectric layer 343 is removed, possiblythrough CMP. The barrier layer 359 may include Ti, TiN, Ta, TaN, W, WNor Ti—W alloy, and may be formed with CVD. The conductive layer 360 maybe formed through CVD or PVD, and may include Cu, W, Al, Mo, Au, Pt oran alloy thereof. The portion of the conductive layer 360 in the trench355 serves as a conductive line, which is electrically connected withthe first plug 335 via the portion of the conductive layer 360 in thevia hole 357 that serves as a second plug.

Since the composite plug of this invention is formed in two stages andthe aspect ratio of the partial contact/via hole in each stage is muchlowered, the process windows of hole-etching and gap-filling areimproved preventing a broken circuit. Hence, the invention can be usedto improve the device reliability and the product yield.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that variousmodifications and variations can be made to the structure of the presentinvention without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention.In view of the foregoing, it is intended that the present inventioncovers modifications and variations of this invention provided they fallwithin the scope of the following claims and their equivalents.

1. An interconnect structure, disposed on a substrate with a conductivepart thereon and comprising: a dielectric layer on the substrate,covering the conductive part; a composite contact plug or via plug inthe dielectric layer comprising: a first contact plug or via plugextending vertically; and a second contact plug or via plug, extendingvertically, directly on the first contact plug or via plug, wherein atop portion of the first contact plug or via plug and a bottom portionof the second contact plug or via plug are different in criticaldimension, the first contact plug or via plug is disposed just above theconductive part and a bottom surface of the first contact plug or viaplug electrically connects with the conductive part; a first barrierlayer disposed between the first contact plug or via plug and the secondfirst contact plug or via plug; and a conductive line on the dielectriclayer, electrically connecting with the composite contact plug or viaplug.
 2. The interconnect structure of claim 1, wherein an aspect ratioof the first contact plug or via plug is no more than
 3. 3. Theinterconnect structure of claim 1, wherein the first contact plug or viaplug comprises a material selected from the group consisting of Cu, W,Al, Mo, Au, Pt and alloys thereof.
 4. The interconnect structure ofclaim 1, wherein the second contact plug or via plug comprises amaterial selected from the group consisting of Cu, W, Al, Mo, Au, Pt andalloys thereof.
 5. The interconnect structure of claim 1, wherein thedielectric layer comprises a lower sub-layer and an upper sub-layer, andthe first contact plug or via plug is disposed in the lower sub-layerand the second contact plug or via plug in the upper sub-layer.
 6. Theinterconnect structure of claim 5, wherein the upper sub-layer comprisesa low-k material.
 7. The interconnect structure of claim 5, furthercomprising a protective layer between the lower sub-layer and the uppersub-layer of the dielectric layer.
 8. The interconnect structure ofclaim 7, wherein the protective layer comprises SiN, SiC, SiON or SiCN.9. The interconnect structure of claim 1, further comprising a secondbarrier layer between the composite contact plug or via plug and each ofthe dielectric layer.
 10. The interconnect structure of claim 9, whereinthe first and the second barrier layers comprise a material selectedfrom the group consisting of Ti, TiN, Ta, TaN, W, WN and Ti—W alloyrespectively.
 11. The interconnect structure of claim 1, wherein theconductive part comprises a doped region, a gate, a combination of adoped region and a gate, or a conductive line.
 12. An interconnectstructure, disposed on a substrate with a doped region thereon andcomprising: a dielectric layer on the substrate, covering the dopedregion; a first contact plug or via plug, extending vertically, in thedielectric layer, having a bottom surface electrically connecting withthe doped region; and a dual damascene structure in the dielectriclayer, electrically connecting with the first contact plug or via plug,and comprising a second contact plug or via plug, extending vertically,directly on the first contact plug or via plug including an interfacetherebetween; and a conductive line on second contact plug or via plugwithout an interface therebetween, wherein a top portion of the firstcontact plug or via plug and a bottom portion of the second contact plugor via plug are different in critical dimension.
 13. The interconnectstructure of claim 12, wherein a barrier layer between the first contactplug or via plug and the second contact plug or via plug.